Once I turned 55, I realized that my big-game hunting time was starting to get limited, and I decided to start making the classic North American hunts that I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. I’ve always wanted to hunt species that don’t live near me, so these hunts are focused partly on species, but they’re focused on terrain, since I’ve spent most of the last 30 years hunting on tree farms and the novelty has pretty much worn off of that.

My son was home from college for the summer, and while he and I have hunted feral hogs and deer several times and in several places, he’s never scored. Feral hogs were on my list, so I booked a hunt with the Dash Ranch in Oak Run, CA (http://northerncaliforniahunting.com/) hoping that we’d break that streak.

The Outfitter
I have no financial interest in the Dash Ranch, but things went really well and I want to pass the word along. Dave owns the ranch and manages the deer hunts, while his son-in-law Tyler runs the hog hunts. The website pretty well explains how the hunts work, and everything it said turned out to be accurate. The one thing it doesn’t mention is how beautiful northern California is. I had only driven through that part of the world once before, but I didn’t get very far off of I-5 on that trip. This time we got away from the main road, and I was blown away by the beauty.

Pre-hunt communication was clear and timely. Tyler answered my questions quickly. He said that the hog numbers were such that we could only take one hog, so my son got the slot. Tyler said that we were all but guaranteed a shot, and that the rest was up to us. And that came true on the ground.

The Area & Conditions
The Dash Ranch is located outside of Oak Run, CA, about 25 miles from Redding, CA. We live in Seattle, and the map indicated a 9-hour drive. We spent the night in Grants Pass, OR, then drove to the ranch.

We passed Mt. Shasta along the way:



The stretch from Grants Pass to the ranch took a bit longer than expected due to road work, so next time I’ll allow an extra hour or two for that leg of the drive.

As for the ranch itself, pictures don’t really do it justice. Most of it is rolling hills with rocky ground, covered in oak scrub with plenty of air and light in between:



The Hunt
The ranch itself is 1,800 acres. Dave and Tyler have game cameras in key locations and they’re out on the ground several times a week, so they have a very good idea of how the deer and hogs are moving.

Tyler said that this was the shortest hunt in the history of the ranch. A few days before the hunt, he emailed and asked that we arrive at 2:00 PM because the hogs were moving earlier in the day than usual. After we arrived, we drove to the bunk house and rinsed off in the shower without using soap or shampoo. In my rush to get out the door, I left our shooting sticks in Seattle, so Tyler found us a pair. We sprayed our hunting clothes with a scent blocker, then headed out.

We drove out the back gate of the ranch headed for a watering hole.



Within half a mile, we jumped a herd of 6-8 large hogs. We didn’t want to spook them, so we watched them and drove another half-mile, parked the Jeep, and walked a few hundred yards to a little hilltop overlooking a watering hole/wallow.



We set up shop there and prepared to wait a couple of hours for the hogs to show up.



But the hogs arrived in less than 10 minutes. Tyler pointed out the one that my son should shoot. My son fired one shot at about 120 yards that destroyed the hog’s heart and broke the offside leg. The hog made a mad 75-yard dash and left a blood trail wide enough that Ray Charles could have tracked it.



We gutted the hog, then took him back to the ranch.



Tyler got him skinned and hung in the cooler in time for dinner, which is unusual since most of the shooting happens at last light and the hunters usually don’t get back until 10:00 PM or later. Tyler’s wife, Heather, made us dinner, which we ate with Tyler and his family. It was really nice to come out of the field and have a hot meal waiting for us.

Rifles
My son used a Husqvarna 1640 in 30-06 with a fixed 4x Leupold.



The load was a 165-grain Remington Power Point over 55 grains of IMR 4350 in mixed brass. We zeroed at 100 yards per Tyler’s request. I chronographed it later and found that it was doing 2,550 FPS from the Husky’s 20.5” barrel. That's somewhere between 300 Savage and 308 Winchester ballistics, which surprised me. On the other hand, it certainly worked.

Tyler’s backup was an 18” barreled 20-gauge Mossberg pump loaded with buckshot. He’s had to go into the brush after wounded hogs before, and he finds this to be the best tool for the job. He also showed us the head of a hog that he’d stopped with a face full of buckshot at 15 yards. The damage was impressive.

Preparation
My son has been shooting since he was small, but has been away at school for three years and hasn’t gotten much range time since he left. We hit the range twice in two weeks before we left and had a couple of extensive dry-fire sessions. Once we confirmed his zero, we focused the prep work on shooting from sitting with sticks and from sitting with a sling, plus plenty of fast bolt work. It paid off, even though the bolt practice wasn’t needed.

Conclusion
Looking back on this hunt, I realize that it was a classic West Coast hunting experience just like a driven quail hunt is a classic Southern hunting experience. Tyler, Dave, and Heather took care of use like we were family. They were all relaxed and focused on making sure that the hunt went well, which it absolutely did. I’ll definitely make the drive back to the Dash Ranch for another hog next spring, and will probably hunt deer with them if I can book a spot.

Let me know if you have questions.


Okie John

Very nice report Okie! The large rocks through the grass would make me wonder how many hogs I walked past I had to look at that photo a few times to see if one was standing there

John:
Dandy report and great pictures. Hell of a lot of rocks though, man that's a nightmare!

What did that monster weigh?
Good for the boy, makes me happy to hear he got one first shot.

Thanks for sharing with us.
George

Yeah, I'd have shot a BUNCH of those rocks without adult supervision.

The guide said the hog went around 230 pounds. It was definitely bigger than most deer I've killed even though it doesn't look all that big in the pictures.


Okie John

Adding Lessons Learned for other new guys like me:

• To save time on departure day, fill the ice chest with ice before you go to the ranch.
  
• This hunt involves setting up over a water hole and waiting for the hogs to move within range. The shooting problem is not difficult. Shots will be taken from a rest at 100-150 yards on a slow moving or temporarily halted target. There is plenty of time to place a bullet precisely. Practice shooting off of sticks from the sitting position, or a bipod from prone. There is little reason to turn down a head shot, and a lot of reason to wait for one.
  
• A 308 or 30-06 is plenty. A garden-variety deer rifle with a 4x scope is probably fine with good shot placement, although Tyler dislikes the 243 and similar cartridges. Shot placement matters more than raw power, but a hog’s vitals are much lower and farther forward than those of other ungulates, so you have to understand hog anatomy to place shots well. Google “feral hog kill zone” for useful images.
  
• Zero for 100-120 yards. It helps with precise shot placement.
  
• Game can show up at any moment, so use the rangefinder to build a mental range card as soon as you get into position. Also keep your binos handy and use them.
  
• Range prep should include live- and dry-fire, with a focus on shooting from sitting with sticks, shooting from sitting with a sling, and working the bolt fast and hard.
  
• Pork must be processed within a couple of days or it will spoil. If you don’t butcher the carcass yourself, then identify and lock down a processor before you go—some butchers can’t or won’t touch feral hogs.
  
• 
  
• 
  

Let me know if you have questions.


Okie John

A .243 with heavier bullets does the job just fine. I can understand if someone uses a light bullet. I only use 100 or 105's.

They sure don't go anywhere when head shot. Down n kicking.

George

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
A .243 with heavier bullets does the job just fine. I can understand if someone uses a light bullet. I only use 100 or 105's.

They sure don't go anywhere when head shot. Down n kicking.

George

I agree with you 100%. A .243 with heavy bullets will work IF the shooter is up to it but not everyone is.

I also see the guide’s point—he’s running a dangerous game hunt. The client could be someone like us or a total assclown who can’t shoot and insists on using varmint loads because they were cheap. If a client makes a mess, then the guide has to wade into the brush and clean it up because he can’t afford to have a client getting hurt, and ruling out lighter cartridges up front probably helps him sleep better at night.

For what it’s worth, these guys assume that all hogs are wounded, and they check to make sure the hog is dead before the client gets anywhere near it. They’ve had enough surprises that they’ve given up on handguns and now prefer an 18” barreled 20-gauge Mossberg pump loaded with buckshot. Tyler showed us the head of a boar that he’d shot in the face at 15 yards. The boar’s tusks were impressive. So was the damage that the buckshot did to its head.


Okie John

quote:

Originally posted by okie john:
Adding Lessons Learned for other new guys like me:

• To save time on departure day, fill the ice chest with ice before you go to the ranch.
  
• This hunt involves setting up over a water hole and waiting for the hogs to move within range. The shooting problem is not difficult. Shots will be taken from a rest at 100-150 yards on a slow moving or temporarily halted target. There is plenty of time to place a bullet precisely. Practice shooting off of sticks from the sitting position, or a bipod from prone. There is little reason to turn down a head shot, and a lot of reason to wait for one.
  
• A 308 or 30-06 is plenty. A garden-variety deer rifle with a 4x scope is probably fine with good shot placement, although Tyler dislikes the 243 and similar cartridges. Shot placement matters more than raw power, but a hog’s vitals are much lower and farther forward than those of other ungulates, so you have to understand hog anatomy to place shots well. Google “feral hog kill zone” for useful images.
  
• Zero for 100-120 yards. It helps with precise shot placement.
  
• Game can show up at any moment, so use the rangefinder to build a mental range card as soon as you get into position. Also keep your binos handy and use them.
  
• Range prep should include live- and dry-fire, with a focus on shooting from sitting with sticks, shooting from sitting with a sling, and working the bolt fast and hard.
  
• Pork must be processed within a couple of days or it will spoil. If you don’t butcher the carcass yourself, then identify and lock down a processor before you go—some butchers can’t or won’t touch feral hogs.
  
• 
  
• 
  

Let me know if you have questions.


Okie John

Hope ya don't mind if I amplify your list a bit.

If you are sitting in a stand or can set up ahead of time, I like using either the Bog Pod Tripod



The Bog Pod can be used sitting or standing.


or the Caldwell Dead Shot Field Pod



Even better if you're sitting in a chair that has an armrest as you can stabilize the stock using the arm of the chair as support for your arm.

My favorite shot on hogs is this: I draw an imaginary line between the ear and shoulder and attempt to place my bullet about two inches below the ear on that line. It severs the spine and they drop and paddle. No tracking. In heavy brush that is a plus.





even if you're a skosh off, it still works.




Like venison, I wet aqe pork 5 to six days. I usually go in with three 180 qt. ice chests full of Ice. If it is cool enough to let the skinned carcass hang (here in my part of the country is usually between December and February) overnight I will do so. Otherwise I try to have the quartered carcass on ice within two hours of the time I shoot the animal. When I get back to town I will elevate the drain end of the chest and continually add ice. After 5 or 6 days I will wrap/shrink wrap the meat.

ya!


GWB

Just picked up breakfast sausage, andouille, ribs, and chops from the butcher. Report follows soonest.


Okie John

Finally got a moment to apply heat to sausages. Started with bulk breakfast sausage:





Mild sage/spice + strong pork flavor. NOT gamey. Extremely lean—I tossed it into a cast-iron skillet expecting to have grease to fry andouille and eggs afterwards, but I had to add olive oil for the andouille. Speaking of which:



Again, rich pork flavor with some back heat but zero grease. The grind was a little coarse so the one that I butterflied fell apart.

Final verdict on feral hogs: 10/10. Would hunt again.



Ribs and chops are up next.


Okie John

4 does boned out, and a hog equals Breakfast Sauage. Dad did that every year for us when we were growing up and we got to shoot the deer...Deer hamburger isn't my cup of tea, but I like the steak fried.

The best sauage is from elk/pork, chili meat course ground no fat added, or hamburger no fat added, hands down. love straight elk ground meat..for tacos, spegetti, hamburgers, Sheppards Pie, and anything else for that matter.